Between Loyalty and Duty
by DragonShadow
Summary: Rainbow Dash is the cadet commander of her own training squad, but when one of her squadmates is found to be holding back everyone in the squad, should she give her loyalty to the squad, or to one of her friends?


(Author's Note: This story was written between Season 3 and 4, when "Bulk Biceps" was more commonly known by his fanon name, "Snowflake", and before Rainbow Dash joined the Wonderbolts Reserves)

Between Loyalty and Duty

The clouds underhoof were fluffy and white, curling up around their legs in a swirling mist as the determined Wonderbolts cadets raced across the sky with thunderous hoofbeats. Their wings were shut tightly against their backs, forcing them to step carefully at a full sprint across the narrow bridges that had been formed from the cloud stuff. When most ponies thought of the Wonderbolts they imagined pegasii soaring gracefully in formation through the sky, and for the most part they were right… but a Wonderbolt was ready for any situation. Even if it meant being unable to use their wings for any reason.

Rainbow Dash was at the head of the pack, where she'd been since coming to the academy. Her cadet squadron was thundering close on her hooves, so synchronized their steps practically hit the cloud at the same time despite their full gallop. There was the occasional faltering hoofstep at some of the narrower sections of the winding trail, but for the most part Rainbow was proud to be at the head of this particular pack.

A grin spread across her lips as she approached the end of the trail and leapt into the air with all the strength she had in her legs. She flew through the sky without wings, coming down moments later on the cloud across the decently sized chasm. Her hooves sank slightly into the cloud, but she folded her legs in to minimize the impact, just as she'd been trained, and resumed her sprint in less than a second.

She heard the hooves of her squadmates hit the cloud behind her, but suddenly a series of sharp yelps caught up with her. Rainbow Dash screeched to a halt and whirled with Cloudchaser and Lightning Dust to look back. The closer end of the cloud trail was missing, and the other three members of their training squad had mysteriously vanished.

Rainbow Dash heaved a sigh. "Let me guess… Snowflake?"

As she watched the massive Pegasus hovered up from the hole with a blush and a sheepish smile on his lips. His tiny wings flapped against his impossibly thick sides, carrying him up towards the cloud trail in front of him. Thunderlane and Wild Flower hovered up beside him with looks of annoyance on their faces,having taken the plunge right behind him.

"How did you guess?" Thunderlane asked.

"Snowflake, how many times do I have to remind you to land lightly?" Rainbow demanded.

"Yeah, I'm trying…" Snowflake blushed.

"Aw, come on, he can't help that he's so… statuesque." Wild Flower gave Snowflake a sympathetic smile.

"Come on! Every second we chat is another second on our time!" Lightning Dust complained.

"Lightning Dust is right, we'll go over this in the barracks. Everyone back on your hooves! We're almost there! Move! Move! Move!"Rainbow Dash watched her squad flit back into formation before whirling to sprint down the cloud path, towards the grassy mountaintop that loomed ahead of her.

Spitfire was waiting in uniform with a stopwatch in one hoof, watching for the cadets to cross the line on the ground. "You're two minutes and thirty-six seconds slower than your best time." Spitfire looked back up at them. "I thought you were going to give me your best!"

"We did, ma'am!" Rainbow Dash saluted swiftly. "We just had an awkward holdup!"

"A holdup?" Spitfire's eyes flicked swiftly to Snowflake, but didn't draw attention to him. "Well if you're going to take extra time to finish your assigned tasks you can take more time to give me a hundred laps before you're dismissed for the day! Now go!" Spitfire blew sharply into her whistle.

They were all disappointed, but there were no groans as Rainbow Dash took to the air, knowing her squad would form in her wake.

After the first week of Wonderbolts training camp, Rainbow Dash had left with the highest honors, and in the camps since then had been doing quite well for herself. She was the captain of a squad that had remained largely consistent since that first day, but she had to admit sometimes she wished she could make at least one of her squad mates improve considerably.

She could tell her peers felt the same way after they'd finished their laps and made their way toward the mess hall. The others all splintered off into their own directions, leaving Snowflake to make his own way towards one of the tables with his plate of cold, disgusting food.

"Honestly, I don't get how he hasn't taken the hint yet." Lightning Dust plopped down at the table opposite Rainbow Dash, slamming her cold food down in front of her. "He's undoubtedly the worst flyer _and_ the worst runner in the academy, and he refuses to quit!"

Internally, Rainbow Dash had to agree. She admired perseverance and determination as much as the next pony, but it had been months, and he'd shown little improvement in either area. Outwardly, Rainbow Dash stayed quiet as she spooned some of her gruel into her mouth.

"Come on, he's dragging us all down!" Lightning Dust hissed in frustration. "As our cadet squad leader you have the authority to recommend he be canned!"

"Yes, I do… _you_ don't." Rainbow Dash threw her companion a sharp warning glare. Their relationship had warmed again since the tornado incident the first week of camp, but sometimes Rainbow just had to remind her which one of them had ended up with the position of squad leader. "I don't want to hear you badmouthing anypony on our squad… and that means anypony. You hear me?"

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes. "Don't act all high and mighty. You know you're thinking it too. You and I are too alike for you not to be."

"Just relax, okay? I'll talk to him about it tonight. I'm sure we can come up with something," Rainbow Dash insisted, despite her growing feeling that Lightning Dust was right. Rainbow was getting frustrated, without him her squad would be setting records left and right. For all she knew they would have the marks to have made it as Wonderbolts by now, but when that happened, it would be _as_ a squad, all together…

Not many places in Equestria had running water. It was one of those things that was largely reserved for places connected with the royal family and the military… which meant that, to Rainbow's delight, the Wonderbolts Academy had showers installed in every barracks. It was one of those perks that made the stress of military life just a little bit more worth it. Not that Rainbow didn't love being here anyway. She'd never wanted anything more than to prove herself as a Wonderbolt, and every day here was a chance to do just that.

Rainbow Dash emerged from under one of the shower heads with a relaxed smile, pulling a towel from the rack to dry her mane as she looked back to the rest of her squad. The others were all under their own showerheads, male and female alike.

Snowflake was under the nearest showerhead, the water brushing his already-short fur down over his bulky, muscular frame. She'd seen him in there dozens of times by now, and it still always made Rainbow pause. How was it possible for one pony to have that many muscles? He was like somepony rolled an entire platoon of bodybuilders into one body.

After composing herself for a moment Rainbow Dash approached him with a stern look on her face. "Snowflake, I need to speak to you in private once you're done. I'll meet you on the roof."

"Yes ma'am!" Snowflake saluted swiftly, swinging a spray of water from the shower over Rainbow's face. "Um... sorry…"

"Heh, forget about it." Rainbow wiped the spray with her towel as she turned to leave the showers with the towel draped around her neck.

She hovered easily out the barracks window and up to the roof, where she liked to spend most of her free time. Some of the more experienced teams began their own training later in the day, so it was here she was able to see some real pro flyers at work, building and refining their techniques. It was an inspiration to watch, and she had to admit, a beautiful sight to see all of this play out against the backdrop of the fiery orange sunset.

The towel dropped to the roof beside her. There was enough of a breeze blowing over the clouds for her to let herself air dry. She wasn't waiting too much longer before Snowflake hovered up from the front of the building, landing with a heavy thump on the roof and approaching Rainbow at strict attention.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Take a load off and sit down, I just wanna chat." Rainbow Dash gave him a disarming smile. The massive stallion visibly relaxed a bit as he sat beside her, but he didn't smile. There was a nervous look on his face. "I'm guessing you know what I'm thinking right now."

"I'm not stupid… I can read everypony's faces." Snowflake huffed.

"Well you don't have to worry about that. You're… well… you're not doing fine, but I've never seen you back down or give up. As long as you keep trying, you can only keep improving. That's my take on it."

"Thanks…" Snowflake growled. "I haven't backed down from anything in my life… I'm not going home until I'm a Wonderbolt!"

"That's the spirit!" Rainbow Dash punched her hoof in front of her. "You just gotta try harder is all! Maybe tonight I can give you some pointers!"

"You will?" Snowflake looked at her in surprise.

"Sure! We Wonderbolts in training gotta stick together!" Rainbow grinned and jumped up to throw a hoof around his broad shoulders. "What do you say? We'll stay up all night if we have to!"

"But won't we be out past curfew?"

"Yep!" Rainbow grinned. "Come on, it'll be fine! Now, first thing you gotta do is work on your hoofwork. Your wings are important, but even those rely in how you use your hooves…"

Rainbow Dash wasn't about to blow her chance at the Wonderbolts, but she also wasn't about to let her desire to be a Wonderbolt make her turn away from someone she'd grown to consider a good friend. Snowflake had supported her ever since she'd been made cadet commander, she wasn't about to let him simply flunk out of the academy without giving him the best fighting chance he could possibly get.

And yet she was conflicted the longer their private session went on. He put all the energy and spirit he possibly could into his attempts to mimic her motions, but he could never quite grasp her moves. His hooves were simply too clumsy, and his wings too small and frail to get the kind of air he needed to keep up his speed for fancy tricks. The more she watched him the more she doubted his ability to be a Wonderbolt… but at the same time she grew to admire his spirit even more. He never gave up or lost energy no matter how many times he stumbled.

After his hoof seemed to buckle for the fifteenth time behind the cover of the barracks, Rainbow Dash raised her hooves and hovered over to him. "Okay, hey, let's call it a night, alright?"

"Harumph…" Snowflake huffed and sat up to rest, leaning his back against the wall behind him. "That sounds like a good idea."

Rainbow Dash settled down to sit beside him. The moon was out, and here on top of the clouds it was as bright and full as it possibly could be, outlining the entire academy, and its cadets, in a beautiful silver glow.

"So we haven't really talked since we got here." Rainbow Dash glanced over at him. "What made you want to become a Wonderbolt?"

Snowflake's response was quick and gruff. "Everypony told me I couldn't."

"What?" Rainbow blinked.

"Everypony always said my wings were too small to be a flyer. I came here to prove them wrong."

"Man… that sucks," Rainbow growled. "Ponies can be so dumb sometimes, you can do whatever you set your mind to! Well, except be as awesome as me. You have to be born like me."

"Heh…" Snowflake's face twisted into a wry grin. "Well you are the most awesome filly I've ever met."

"Well duh." Rainbow grinned back for a moment before letting it fade. "Just relax… we'll do whatever it takes get you up to snuff for the Wonderbolts. You'll prove all those idiots wrong!"

Snowflake's wry grin grew into a genuine one. "_Yeah!_"

Rainbow Dash grinned to herself. Yeah, they could make this work. He definitely had the spirit for it; they just had to keep working on it…

* * *

><p>Spitfire's whistle cut through the air, drawing the attention of the twelve gathered cadets, six on each side of a white line on the mountaintop. Rainbow Dash was standing opposite a blue stallion from the other team, who had a wry smirk on his face and his chest puffed out in front of him. Rainbow Dash tried to ignore him, focusing instead on the mare who was pacing between the two teams.<p>

"Rainbow Squadron, Sonic Squadron, I called you both here because a Wonderbolt must be able to trust and work with the members of their own team, but they must also be able to cooperate with other teams! You've all received identical training, so it should be no challenge for any of you to cooperate even with ponies you've never flown with before!" She whirled back to the two teams, looking back and forth between them. "You've each been paired with your equals, so each pair must be able to act as one to accomplish the task at hand."

"Yes ma'am!" The twelve pegasii saluted in unison.

"Seeing as this is an exercise of coordination and not skill, your task will be simple. There are six markershidden inside of Ghastly Gorge underneath Cloudsdale. You will act as one single unit in searching for, and retrieving, these markers. It's not a speed challenge, so take all the time you need, but obviously the faster the better." Spitfire approached Rainbow Dash and her counterpart. "Rainbow Dash, Sonic Youth. As the commander of each of your squads, the bulk of this test will be on you two cooperating with one-another."

"Understood, ma'am!" Rainbow and Sonic exclaimed in unison.

"Glad to hear it. Now _move_!" Spitfire's whistle cut sharply through the air. Rainbow Dash and Sonic Youth were both off before the sound had even ended. Their squads formed quickly, if a little clumsily behind them. This was easily the biggest formation any of them had flown in yet, it took each of them a moment to find their places. Not helping matters was Snowflake's bulk making it difficult for anyone to fly in close around him. By the time the formation settled there was a visible gap around him, with the others forming a strange diamond shape with the commanders at the front.

"This is going to be so easy." Rainbow Dash grinned. "Just keep your eyes peeled and we can't possibly mess this up."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled if you keep your mouth shut, babe." Sonic snickered. "I've got this handled."

"Excuse me…?" Rainbow Dash eyes him up in surprise, but he turned without warning, leaving Rainbow flying in the wrong direction with both teams following him.

"Hey! We need to cooperate!" Rainbow Dash growled and whirled to chase after him, resuming her position beside him. "You've gotta signal before you turn!"

Instead of responding to her, Sonic called back into the pack. "Hey Wild Fire, we got a marker in those rocks!"

"I'm on it!" A tan mare broke from the formation to fly towards the bottom of the gorge.

Rainbow growled. "Wild Flower, stick with her! We're supposed to be working in pairs!"

"Oh! Uh… yeah! I mean yes ma'am!" Wild Flower sputtered for a moment before turning to follow Wild Fire down.

Sonic Youth snickered out of the side of his mouth. "Nice discipline."

"Oh shut up." Rainbow growled. "By the way, watch your head."

"What?" Sonic looked forward just in time to dodge a low hanging crag by darting below the formation, leaving the squadrons now following Rainbow Dash. "Hey! You…!"

"Might want to try to _not_ fly the entire squadron headfirst into a mountain." Rainbow snickered, but was distracted by a metallic glint in the outcrop beside them. "We have a marker! Snowflake, Stormwalker, that one's yours!"

"Yes ma'am!" Stormwalker smoothly diverted course.

"_Yeah_!" Snowflake followed right on her side, turning a little too close so that her wing clipped his massive frame. It took Stormwalker a moment to correct her heading, but soon with a blush they were both off toward the marker.

"Don't order my squad around!" Sonic Youth flew back into the formation, coming in so fast he slammed into Rainbow, knocking her off to one side.

"Hey! We're supposed to be working together!" Rainbow bumped him right back.

"We'll work together just fine if you shut up and let me take care of it!" Sonic moved to bump her back, but Rainbow deftly moved up out of the way, letting his momentum send him flying out the other side of the formation. "Gah!"

"Sheesh, stop breaking formation, newbie!" Rainbow Dash snickered. Her attention was drawn away however when she heard a yelp from lower in the chasm. Stormwalker was spiraling through the air for a moment away from Snowflake, who was hovering in front of her with a sheepish blush, but an annoyed look on his face.

"Stay away from me and that won't happen!" Snowflake demanded as Stormwalker steadied herself in the air.

"I'm trying! You're just flying too close! Your body is blocking my wind!" Stormwalker complained. Rainbow Dash bit her lip. Man of all the times for Snowflake to start messing up again…

"Gah!" Rainbow Dash grunted in shock when she was shoved forcefully out of the formation again, while Sonic Youth took her place at the head of both squads.

"Get out of my way, we're wasting time!" Sonic grunted and picked up speed to try to leave her behind, also leaving Snowflake behind, who was struggling to keep up while Stormwalker flew ahead to catch up.

"Hey!" Snowflake flew as furiously as he could, but couldn't quite match their new faster speed, let alone gain any ground on them. He flailed futilely through the air, pumping his wings with the speed of a hummingbird, but there was no way he was catching up to the group.

"That… is… _it_!" Rainbow Dash took off in a streak of color, easily flying right over the team in a flash to come down on Sonic. Her hooves smashed into his shoulders, sending them both hurtling down through the chasm in a cloud of flailing hooves and gnashing teeth.

Their teams could only look on in helpless shock as Sonic Youth turned to fight back, the two Pegasii quickly dissolving into a brutal melee even as they plummeted toward the rocks below. Several of their squadmates broke from formation, streaking down in a blur of motion to both catch them and pull them apart before they could kill each other, or smash into the ground only a couple dozen meters below. Lightning Dust held tight to Rainbow Dash's shoulders, while Wild Fire had a firm grip on Sonic Youth.

"Let me go! I've had enough of him!" Rainbow Dash struggled.

"Rainbow, knock it off! Spitfire's coming!" Lightning Dust hissed into her ear.

Both Rainbow and Sonic ceased struggling as Spitfire hovered down in front of them. There was a thoroughly unamused expression on her face, and several Pegasus guards hovering in the air at her sides.

"Does anypony want to explain this?" Spitfire demanded.

"He's a jerk! A sexist, uncaring jerk!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Spitfire glanced at Sonic, who didn't meet her eyes. "Your version?"

Sonic grunted, but still didn't meet her gaze. "She's causing a disruption, I was just trying to do my job and then she attacked me."

"Your job!? Your job is not to ignore me and _ditch_ members of my squadron!" Rainbow howled back. Spitfire immediately glanced toward Snowflake, who was just joining up again with the rest of the ponies overhead. She said nothing about him, however.

"Guards, detain them both until we can get a full review of what happened here," Spitfire ordered.

"Wh-wha…?" Rainbow's jaw dropped in shock, but she didn't struggle or protest as two of the guards approached her to take her from Lightning Dust.

Sonic also didn't struggle, letting himself be taken by the guards, who moved to carry them both back up towards the Academy. Rainbow managed one last glance back, seeing both teams watching them go with solemn, sad expressions on their faces. Rainbow Dash couldn't suppress a shudder as they approached the few detention cells that had been built on the mountaintop academy. Goddess, she may have just thrown away her entire career…

Rainbow Dash willingly walked into the small detention cell, where the guard closed her in. His voice wasn't harsh as he spoke. "Captain Spitfire will be along shortly. Just sit tight; she'll get everything sorted out."

"Yeah…" Rainbow Dash plopped down on the stiff cot under the small window. Her only consolation was that at least Sonic Youth wasn't in a cell near hers…

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure how much time passed, it must have been hours. The sun outside her small windows was glowing golden orange when she heard the detention center door open and firm hoofsteps approach her cell.

Spitfire stopped right outside of the cell, giving her a penetrating stare. "Attacking a fellow Wonderbolt for any reason is grounds for expulsion."

"Yeah… I figured that…" Rainbow Dash shuddered.

"So why risk it? Was it really just because he was being a sexist jerk to you?"

"If you know what he's like, why is he still here? Let alone as a lead cadet?" Rainbow demanded.

"For the same reason Lightning Dust is, because he's good at what he does. I've been working on his attitude, it's one of the reasons I put him with you on this exercise. I was hoping you could show him the error of his ways. That doesn't mean you're in the right to attack him, though. Anyway, you don't need to worry about that. What you need to worry about is convincing me why you should be allowed to stay."

Rainbow Dash coughed with an awkward blush. "Look… I know it was wrong… but it wasn't just how he was treating me… he was treating my entire squad like they didn't even matter. I can take somepony being a jerk to me, but nopony is a jerk to my friends…"

Spitfire's voice softened slightly. "The other cadets from both squads said something like that was happening. That's an admirable trait, Rainbow Dash, but it's still no excuse for a temper flaring out of control."

"No… it's not." Rainbow looked down.

"Maybe next time you'll take some deep breaths and let cooler heads prevail."

"Next time?" Rainbow Dash looked up hopefully.

"You're good Rainbow Dash, too good to let go over a lost temper… but this is your only freebie." Spitfire nodded to the guards, who opened her cell door for her. "Lose it like that again and I won't even have a choice in the matter, is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Rainbow gave her commanding officer a salute as she emerged from the cell.

"Is there something else you need to talk to me about?" Spitfire asked suddenly.

"Something else?" Rainbow Dash turned in surprise to meet Spitfire's steady stare. It was like she was waiting for something, and Rainbow had a suspicion what it was. Well she wasn't about to give it to her. "No ma'am… there's nothing else."

"Very well. Your squad is back at your barracks. You're free to join them. I expect you'll be ready for more training exercises tomorrow."

"You know me. I'm always ready." With a relieved smile Rainbow Dash emerged from the detention block to fly back towards her barracks.

She arrived just as the fiery orange light of the dusk began to give way to the pale light of the moon, finding her fellow squad mates all wide awake and chattering among themselves. All of the chatter subsides when the door opened and there was a chorus of cheers.

"Geeze! You scared the hay out of us, Rainbow!" Thunderlane heaved a relieved sigh.

"Yeah! Don't do that!" Wild Flower agreed with a softer smile. "We need you!"

Rainbow smiled at all the attention with a slight blush. "Heh, sorry about that guys, I guess I let my temper get the best of me. I promise it won't happen again."

"It better not. We don't need two impulsive hotheads dragging this team down." Lightning Dust nudged Rainbow's side with a cocky smirk. "We're just lucky you're such a suck-up that Spitfire loves you."

"Yeah keep talking smack and I'm gonna hold you down while the others wail on you." Rainbow waved her off with one hoof, to the calming laughs of the rest of her squad members, except for Snowflake. The massive pony had a more thoughtful look mixed in with his relief at seeing her return.

After meeting and chatting for a couple of minutes Rainbow Dash moved away from her squad. "I think I'm gonna hit the shower, the rest of you can chill out for the rest of the night."

"Yes ma'am!" The other laughed among themselves while Rainbow made her way into the next room.

Her Wonderbolts training uniform was laid neatly on the bench outside while Rainbow made her way under the shower heads, turning one on to let the cooling liquid wash over her. Her wings spread under the shower spray, letting the water soak through the feathers to the cloud floor below. It was nice to get clean after sitting in that hot, enclosed cell for a good portion of the day, following a hot and dirty tussle in a canyon.

"Rainbow Dash." Rainbow blinked at the sound of a powerful, gruff voice from behind her, then turned to see Snowflake standing a safe distance from the shower spray. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can, big guy. What's on your mind?" Rainbow turned back to the showerhead to wash out her hair.

"I'd like to step up our training together… I think I need to…" He trailed off uncertainly.

Rainbow Dash looked back at him again in surprise, looking up into eyes that looked unsure. "Hey, you couldn't help what happened. She was getting too close to you, and that guy was being a complete jerk for leaving you behind."

"He shouldn't have been able to leave me behind that easily…" Snowflake growled. "I need to get faster."

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Well at least you took the right attitude from it! Alright, let me finish up here and I'll meet you out back again. We'll keep at it every night if we have to. You will be Wonderbolts material!"

"_Yeah_!" Snowflake agreed with an enthusiastic grin. "I'll be waiting for you out back!"

"_Yeah_!" Rainbow Dash echoed back at him with a wink. Snowflake pumped his chest enthusiastically and left, letting her finish her shower in peace, at least until Lightning Dust wandered in as well.

"What is with everypony wanting to watch me take a shower today?" Rainbow smirked.

"Rainbow, I heard you two talking." Lightning Dust frowned. "And I think you're making a mistake."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I heard you before, you want him gone. Well it's not happening, I'm not betraying my friends like that."

"It's not about betraying friends, it's about doing your job." Lightning glared. "Not every pony is fit to be a Wonderbolt! They can't let just any pony in!"

"Well who am I to tell him he can't do it, huh?"

"You're his commanding officer! It's your job to tell him if he can't do it!"

"Well, Spitfire doesn't seem to think he doesn't stand a chance! If she did she would've kicked him out herself."

"Unless she's waiting to see if you'll have the guts to do it! Ugh!" Lightning Dust groaned. "This is so stupid! I realize you're all about friendship and loyalty and junk, but you're taking it too far!"

"If I'm taking it too far that's my decision as squad leader! You don't like it, take it up with Spitfire."

Lightning glared, then turned to head toward the main barracks. "Whatever, if you want to waste our time and drag us down with a lost cause, that is your decision. Maybe they'll make me squad leader when you're axed for being a wuss."

Rainbow Dash wanted to fire back with something witty, but nothing came to mind. She'd always been the fastest flyer, but never the fastest thinker. That position always went to her Ponyville friends. That only infuriated her even more. Not only did Lightning Dust get the last word, but goddess above, she was probably _right_, and that was a whole new level of frustrating. Rainbow Dash didn't want to tell Snowflake to go home, she wanted to help him succeed like a true friend would…

To that end, she turned off the showerhead, quickly dried herself with the towel she'd brought and made her way out back, where Snowflake was waiting in the fading orange sunlight.

Rainbow marched up to him with a serious look on her face. "Okay let's do this! No more horsing around! It's time to get serious!"

"Yes ma'am!" Snowflake popped to attention with a stiff salute.

This was when he would put his all into the training, and his hard work would come to fruition! In a play, perhaps… but this night was not the night where he would see any notable improvement. Nor was the next night, nor the night after that. Rainbow Dash kept her training regimen strict and fast, tacking on her own drills to what Spitfire was already pushing them through, but it was as if something was holding Snowflake back. Perhaps it was his massive size, or his small wings, or something else she couldn't see… but after two weeks of her special training he seemed to make no progress whatsoever.

He didn't seem winded as he came in from his last drill of the night with a broad grin on his face. "I think this training is really starting to help! It was so much easier this time!"

"Heh… glad to hear it." Rainbow Dash forced a smile. Maybe it was easier to do it wrong, but he sure didn't get it right. "Why don't you hit the sack? You definitely earned the rest."

"Thanks Rainbow, really… for everything." Snowflake's massive jaw curled in an appreciative smile before he turned to head inside of the barracks, leaving Rainbow alone in the dark.

With a sigh Rainbow stood to hover out over the clouds, towards the edge of the academy. The landscape below the clouds was nearly pitch black, with only the silver shine of the full moon to give it any light at all. It was kind of pretty, Rainbow admitted to herself. She never really looked down anymore since she'd started flying more regularly. The view reminded her of her first time approaching the edge of Cloudsdale. She had gotten so dizzy that her father had to snatch her up and pull her back…

"You look like a pony who can't stop thinking." A familiar voice spoke from behind her.

Rainbow's heart leapt into her throat. "Oh Goddess, I-I don't mean to be out past curfew! I'll get back inside!" Rainbow whirled to her hooves, stopping when she saw the out-of-uniform Spitfire watching her with a smooth smile.

"Relax, I'm off-duty. I couldn't bust you if I wanted to." Spitfire assured her as she approached to sit on the edge of the cloud beside her. With a curious, but nervous gaze, Rainbow Dash sat down beside her again.

"H-heh… you know we never did just hang out at the Grand Galloping Gala… kinda nice to be able to." Rainbow Dash smiled nervously.

"What? Oh, geeze… I nearly forgot about that." Spitfire chuckled. "Yeah, being a Wonderbolt isn't easy, and not just because of our actual responsibilities."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that…" Rainbow Dash looked down at the black forest far below.

Spitfire was silent for several minutes before speaking. "Are you familiar with the legacy of the Wonderbolts?"

"Legacy?" Rainbow looked up in surprise. "I know it's been around for a really long time…"

"To say the least." Spitfire leaned back comfortably on the cloud, letting her rear hooves dangle over the edge as she spoke. "The Wonderbolts go back to before Equestria was founded. They were the military branch of the pegasii empire. Being chosen to serve in the Wonderbolts was the highest honor. Every pegasus wanted to be a Wonderbolt, but only the few exceptional ones got a chance to do it."

"Man, it goes back that far…? So Commander Hurricane was a Wonderbolt?"

"Yep. She was the leader of the Wonderbolts, at the time Equestria was formed." Spitfire turned her head slightly to look up at Rainbow Dash. "Obviously we're a bit more relaxed in our duties these days. We're as much of an entertainment troupe as a branch of the military… but we still pride ourselves on our standards, and representing the best the pegasus race has to offer."

Rainbow stared back for a moment, then sighed and looked down. "This is about Snowflake, isn't it?" When Spitfire didn't respond Rainbow ran a hoof over the back of her neck, avoiding her gaze. "He's my friend, Spitfire… they're all my friends. Even Lightning Dust turned herself around, I mean… how could I be responsible for sending someone home? For crushing their ambitions and dreams?"

Spitfire pursed her lips and sat up. "You're a loyal friend Rainbow Dash… but there's more to loyalty than blindly trying to give your friends what they want."

"What do you mean?"

Spitfire's eyes were focused and intense as she spoke. "Sometimes loyalty means telling somepony something they don't want to hear… but _need_ to hear anyway. Do you really think he's going anywhere? He's been in the academy for six months and shown almost no improvement. Do you honestly, truly, think he has a shot?"

Rainbow Dash looked away. "I think everypony deserves a chance…"

"He had his chance," Spitfire pointed out. "But he can't keep trying for the rest of his life. He needs to move on and find something he can actually do."

Rainbow Dash stared into her commanding officer's eyes, seeing nothing but brutal honesty within them. "How am I gonna tell him I'm sending him home after telling him over and over that I'll help him…?"

"The same way friends always do." Spitfire smiled. "Honestly."

* * *

><p>The next day was a day like any other for the Wonderbolts cadets, but for Rainbow Dash it might as well have been final exam day. She was standing at the front door of her barracks, watching the others squeeze into their tight training uniforms. Her eyes lingered on Snowflake. His uniform had been specially made in his unique size… but after today he wouldn't even need it. Even thinking about being the reason for that made her shudder… but Spitfire was right. What kind of friend goads another friend down a dead-end road…?<p>

Once her squadmates were assembled and waiting, Rainbow Dash gave her first command of the day. "Snowflake, I need to have a word with you here. The rest of you, assemble out in the courtyard to wait for Captain Spitfire."

There were some exclamations of surprise, but Lightning Dust's eyes widened immediately, as if she simply knew. As the others filed out of the building, Lightning Dust brought up the rear, giving Rainbow's shoulder a swift pat as she passed.

Rainbow Dash approached Snowflake, who was standing at stiff attention. "Snowflake… I know I said I'd do whatever I could to help you get into the Wonderbolts… but I'm sorry… I just can't. After six months of Wonderbolts training and two weeks of personal training… you haven't improved at all. Maybe it's time to admit the Wonderbolts isn't for you after all…"

Snowflake looked like he'd just been smacked in the face, the look of shock was almost unbearable, but with a shake of his head he seemed to accept her words. "Yeah… I guess I knew that was coming eventually."

"I'm sorry… I wanted to help you. You're my friend, after all…"

"Hey, far as I'm concerned we still can be." Snowflake told her with a crooked, but sad smile. "I'll still be there when you get back to Ponyville, after all."

"Y-yeah… totally." Rainbow smiled up at him. "You don't have to leave immediately… I'm gonna turn in my recommendation to Spitfire this afternoon…"

"It's alright, Rainbow… I don't need to stick around when I know it's over, do I?"

"No, no of course you don't." Rainbow Dash sighed softly. "I'll see you aroundPonyville."

Snowflake turned to leave, his smile fading, and a slight slump to his shoulders as he went. When he reached the door, however, he perked up one more time and looked back. "Thanks for trying…"

"Yeah… you're welcome." Rainbow Dash couldn't bring herself to smile as she watched him leave, making his way towards the mountaintop landing strip. She wanted to tear her mane out… but she could only march her way out and turn away from him, heading towards the main courtyard where they met Spitfire for each of their daily drills.

The others looked up as she approached. They had emerged from the barracks a little bit early, so they were still alone in the field. Wild Flower's hooves immediately covered her mouth, while the others all exchanged quick, knowing glances. For a moment Rainbow Dash just stopped in front of them, looking back and forth between their peering, demanding eyes.

Rainbow Dash forced herself to speak in a firm, clear voice. "Snowflake is going home… but that doesn't change anything for us. We're still going to continue our training to be the best team in this academy. Not only are we going to train to be the best team in this academy, we are going to _be_ the best team in this academy. Every one of us will work hard, and push each other harder. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" Her squad saluted in unison. Even Lightning Dust was standing with a particularly straight and respectful posture. There was a certain pride in Lightning Dust's eye that Rainbow wished she could feel for herself…

* * *

><p>With the semester of Wonderbolts Academy ended, Rainbow Dash fluttered her way silently back towards Ponyville, joined on the way by Thunderlane and weren't best friends outside of the Wonderbolts Academy or anything, but they certainly hung out more often since the training had started, and they all lived in Ponyville anyway. So did Snowflake, who had started flying with them on prior trips…<p>

"Come on Rainbow Dash, are you still down?" Cloudchaser asked as the three of them touched down on the border between the Everfree Forest and the town of Ponyville. "You gotta stop beating yourself up."

"Yeah, we all kinda knew Snowflake wasn't cutting it… nopony blames you for letting him go,"Thunderlane agreed with a comforting smile.

"Snowflake might…" Rainbow grumbled.

"Hey, they're right." Rainbow jerked and looked up as Snowflake approached up the hill. "Nopony blames you for cutting me," he assured her with a wry smirk on his lips.

Rainbow Dash blushed. "Ahehe… What are you doing out here…?"

"Knew you'd be coming in today… thought I'd come see how the rest of the academy went."

Thunderlane turned to move past him towards Ponyville. "It went pretty good… Rainbow Dash is becoming a better and better leader all the time."

"I can tell," Snowflake chuckled. "She was smart enough to send me home, after all."

Rainbow blushed furiously and looked away from him. "I'm sorry, I had to!"

"Hey, like I said… it was the smart thing." Snowflake blushed as well as he approached. "I already told you, no hard feelings."

"You're… seriously not upset? At all?"

"Well I was, at first. But I figured out why you did it."

"Thanks… it's been kind of eating me up inside. I really did want to help you become a Wonderbolt…"

"Hey, I know. Like I said, forget about it." Snowflake punched her shoulder with one meaty hoof. "You can make it up to me by having a coffee with me. I'll prove there's no hard feelings."

Rainbow looked up at him again as she rubbed her shoulder with one hoof. "Oh yeah?I'm not usually a coffee drinker… but that actually sounds kind of cool."

Rainbow Dash and Snowflake turned to make their way into the town proper, walking side-by-side down the broad street. Forcing one of her friends to give up on his dream was one of the hardest things she'd ever done in her life… but maybe it really had been the right thing to do after all.


End file.
